Crochet (Possibly Old Lady) Ruffled Collar

 

When I saw this Crochet Ruffled Collar designed by Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude on Simplicity, I thought it would look good over solid-colored shirts.

 

Naturally, I had to take a shortcut. Instead of working the collar with crochet thread doubled as the pattern suggested, I dug into my yarn stash and used a lightweight cotton yarn.

Crochet Toddler Cleire Cardigan

During Hurricane Sandy, I uploaded an in-progress shot of this cardi on Instagram. Because I was trapped inside for days, I actually completed it in time to give it to my niece for Christmas.

Why isn't there a photo of your niece wearing this, you ask? She's not a fan of clothes these days, and by the time  you get her to put one article of clothing on, she's stripped off three other things (including her diaper) and is running around screaming, "Nakie!"

After trying this on her, I replaced the buttons with larger, flower-shaped ones because these kept slipping through the buttonholes too easily.

The pattern for this came from Comfort Knitting & Crochet: Babies & Toddlers. It worked up fairly quickly, and I love that it looks a bit like a little swing coat on her. The tricky part is when to wear it. It's not heavy, but it's not ideal for hot weather either. I think my sister-in-law will end up pairing this with a long-sleeve tee shirt underneath for transitional spring and fall weather.

Have you made any baby or toddler clothes? How was the fit?

Knitted I-Cord Necklace

When I was at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC, I stopped by the Kollabora table to say hello to Mary Beth Temple. Mary Beth was knitting I-cord and turning it into some fantastic Celtic knot necklaces.

Hello, Asheville

For nearly seven years, I was a happy resident of Brooklyn, New York. I had great friends, an enviable job, and a nice apartment. But I wasn't happy.

I still love Brooklyn, but it just didn't feel right for me anymore. I thought about moving for several years, and then things started to fall together in that the-universe-is-trying-to-tell-me-something kind of way.

When the universe spoke, it said Asheville, North Carolina.



Photo by Evolver Asheville

Vogue Knitting Live New York

Talk about some yarn porn. I went to Vogue Knitting Live in NYC a few weeks ago and regretted not wearing horse blinders to the marketplace.

I spotted the Bloom Loom at the Boye booth. Seriously digging all these colors.

 

The main reason I was at VK Live was to assist Jean Moss with her Japanese-style short row class. Here are some of Jean's samples from the class. I wasn't familiar with this particular short-row technique before this, but now I'm a convert. (Here's a how-to if you want to give it a try. I swear it's easier than wrap and turn.)

 

A lot of the ladies in the class saw the sample on the left and envisioned a knitted skirt or necklace.